Truck for handling and carrying logs.



PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905.

T. A. L. STRANGE. TRUCK FOR HANDLING AND CARRYING LOGS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.11, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 801,415. PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905. T. A. L. STRANGE. TRUCK FORHANDLING AND CARRYING LOGS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 11, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Y 6 Witnesses 2 zflmwfl i mgpventor.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFTCE.

TRUCK FOR HANDLING AND CARRYING LOGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905 Application filed November 11 1904. Serial No.232,368-

ject to improve and to simplify the construction of devices of thischaracter.

Logging-trucks as ordinarily constructed are usually provided with verylarge Wheels, this being considered necessary in order to enable thelogs that are to be handled to be suspended from the axle between thewheels. This has been objectionable, for the reason that trucks of thischaracter have to be used in rough and inaccessible localities, and thewheels have heretofore been subjected to a strain which, owing to thegreat size of said wheels, has caused them to speedily break down. Therehave been other serious objections to the construction of thelarge-wheeled trucks heretofore employed. Thus, for in stance, it hasbeen practically impossible to employ other draft-animals than cattle,the use of horses or mules being rendered impracticable, there being noplace where doubletrees and other draft appliances might be convenientlyattached. Again, in going over rough and hilly places without any loadthe high-wheel trucks would frequently become upset, causing greatinconvenience and loss of time. Some trucks have been constructed withaxles that have been slightly arched, but not sufliciently to overcomethe objection noted. v

One principal feature of the present invention consists in constructingthe truck with an arched axle of a character which will permit a largerproportion of the load to be suspended above the spindles, thus enablingsmaller wheels to be used, and thereby greatly increasing the life ofthe device.

The invention further consists in equipping proved construction andnovel arrangement and combination of parts, which will behere inafterfully described, and particularlypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferredform of embodiment of the invention, it being, however, understood thatno limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural detailstherein exhibited, but that the rightis reserved to any changes,alterations, and modifications to which recourse may be had within thescope of the invention and without departing from the spirit orsacrificing the eificiency of the same.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a truck constructed inaccordance with the principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is a rearelevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sec tional front elevation. Fig. Aisa detail plan view showing the winding-drum for the supportingchain.Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken vertically through the hoisting-drumand the shaft of the same. Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view of thetrip mechanism.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated by likecharacters of reference.

The axle of the improved truck is composed of a central arch A, havinglateral extensions 1 1, carrying the spindles upon which the wheels 2and 3 are mounted for rotation. The axle-arch is framed of strong andsound timbers of suitable dimensions, and it is heavily reinforced bymeans of plates 4:, of iron or mild steel, which are bolted or otherwisesecured to the said timber in such a manner as to produce a structurewhich shall be capable of resisting any strain to which it may besubjected. The arch comprises side pieces 5 5 and a top or cap piece 6,and the corners may, if desired, be reinforced by angle-plates 7 ofeither cast or wrought metal. It is to be understood that strengtheningand reinforcing means may be used freely throughout the entire structurefor the purpose of attaining the necessary strength and ability toresist strain and sudden shocks. The wheels are to be made with suitableWide treads, and the height of the wheels, as well as the dimensions ofthe arched axle, may be varied to adapt the device to speciallocalities.

Suitably secured near the lower ends of the side members 5 5 of theaxle-arch are forwardly extending beams 8 8, constituting hounds whichare disposed parallel to each other and the forward ends of which areconnected by a cross-beam 9, to which the tongue 10 is suitablyattached. The hound-frame is to be constructed of stout materialsuitably reinforced and fitted to resist hard usage. Said hound-framemay be made of any desired length, which should be sufficient to enablea considerable portion of the load to be suspended in front of the axleand the arch of the axle, as indicated in the drawings, where Lrepresents the lo The uprights 5 of the axle-arch are provided withbrackets 11 11, affording bearings for shafts 12 12, which arevertically slidable in said bearings. At the lower ends of the shafts 1212 are secured bevel'gears 13,meshing with bevel-gears 14: 1 1, whichare securely connected with the hub of the wheels 2 3. The shafts 12 areprovided at their upper ends with heads 15,between which and theuppermost bearings 11 are interposed springs 16, the tension of which isupward, so that the tendency of said springs will be to lift the shafts12 and to place the bevel-gears 13 out of engagement with thebevel-gears 14:. The shafts 12 carry drums or reels 17, with which theyare slidably connected by means of keys or feathers 18, working ingrooves 19 of the shaft, so that the drums will rotate with the latter,while the said shafts are capable of vertical movement independently ofthe drums. The flanges 20 at the upper ends of the drums are notched toconstitute ItltCllGt-WGOQlS, which are engaged by spring-pawls 21,suitably attached to the frame.

Each of the shafts 12 is provided with a fixed collar 22, supporting aloose annularlygrooved collar 23, which is engaged by afork at at theouter end of the horizontal arm of a bell-crank lever B, which isfulcrumed upon the adjacent frame-beam 5 and the upper arm of which, 26,is extended to form a handle 27. Each lever arm 26 engages a springeatch28, which is bolted to the framebean15 and which is provided on itsinner side with a beveled tooth 29 and with a notch 30 for theaccommodation of the lever-arm 26. Pivotally connected with the arch ofthe axle are trip-levers T, having arms 31, which extend under or belowthe cap-beam of the axlearch and provided at their outer ends withwedges 32, adapted to enter behind the free end of the spring-catches28.

When the lever-arms 26 are in engagement with the notches 30 of thespring-catches 28, the free ends of the lever-arms 25 will be depressed,causing the collars 23 to exerta clownward pressure against the fixedcollars 22 upon the shafts 12, which latterare thus depressed againstthe tension of the springs 16, thus placing the bevel-gears 13 and 1a inengagement with each other. \Vhcn the arms 31 of the levers T areelevated, the wedges 32 will be forced in behind the free ends of thespring catches 28, which will be forced outwardly,

thus releasing the lever-arms 26 from the l vating the front end ofthelog until the latter notches 30 and permitting the springs 16 toforce the shafts 12 in an upward direction, thereby throwing thebevel-gears 13 and 1a out of mesh.

33 designates a flexible hoisting member, such as a chain, the ends ofwhich are connected with the drums or reels 17, said chain being guidedover guide-sheaves 34:, the blocks or casings of which are hingedlyconnected with the cap-beam 6 of the axle-arch. Said hoisting member isalso guided under a sheave 35, which is connected with the tongs 36.

Suitably connected with one of the side beams 5 of the axle-arch is adrum-carrying shaft 37, having a crank or, handle whereby it may bemanipulated. The drum 38 upon said shaft has a ratchet-wheel 39, engagedby a pawl 40 to prevent reverse movement, and wound upon said drum isachain 11, the free end of which has a hook 12, which may be detachablyconnected with an eyebolt as, connected with the lower end of theopposite beam of the axle-arch.

The shaft 12 at the left-hand side of the truck, which the shaftgenerally utilized in loading the truck, is provided at its upper endwith a crank 4C5, by means of which it maybe manually operated. Asimilar crank may be connected with the upper end of the shaft 12 at theright-hand side of the truck, or an interchangeable crank may be used,if preferred, in which latter event the upper ends of the shafts will beprovided with non-circular portions, as shown at 46, for engagement withthe crank-handle.

In handling a log with the improved truck the latter is first driven toa position where it will straddle the log. The loading mechanism may beoperated from either side of the truck; but the driver usually standsupon the lefthand side. The near lever B is at this time in its normalposition -that is, tilted, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3 of drawings,to a position at which the shaft 12 will be elevated by the tension ofthe springs 16. By temporarily releasing the spring-catch 21 from theratchet-wheel 20 the chain may then be pulled down from the drum 17until the tongs 36 may be placed in engagement with the log. hen thishas been done, the shaft 12 is rotated manually by means of the crank 15until the slack has been taken up, and the lever B is then manipulatedto move the shaft 12 against the tension of the spring 16 in a downwarddirection until the bevel-gears 13 and 14L are brought into mesh. Theshaft 12 at the opposite side of the truck is also lowered to bring thebevel-gear at its lower end into mesh with the bevel-gear connected withthe hub of the adjacent wheel. As soon as the truck moves forward theshafts 12, carrying the drums 17, will be rotated by the intcrmeshingbevel-gears, and the chain 33 will be wound upon the drums, thus liftingor elestrikes the arms 31 of the trip-levers T, which are thus actuatedto disengage the springcatches 28 from the lever-arms 26, and thusenabling the springs 16 to force the shafts 12 upwardly, throwing thebevel-gears l3 and 14 out of mesh. The drums 17, upon which the chain 33is wound, are held against reverse rotation by the pawls 21. The rearend of the log, as is obvious, will drag upon the ground; but owing tothe peculiar construction of the truck, as herein described, aconsiderable portion of the log will be disposed in front of thesuspending-point between the hounds of the truck, so that the hind endof the log will drag but lightly upon the ground and may therefore becarried with comparative ease over rough and uneven ground. If the loadis sufficiently heavy to make additional supporting means desirable, thechain 41 may now be partially unwound from the drum 38 and connected atits free end with the eyebolt 43, after which the drum-carrying shaft 37is rotated to wind the chain upon the drum, thus tightening said chainand forming a support for the log, which being thus suspended andsupported may be conveniently carried to its destination. If two or moresmaller logs are to be handled, they may be bound together withlog-chains, and a loghook may be substituted for the tongs 36. When thelog or load is to be lowered and disengaged from the truck, it isdesirable that this should be done gradually in order to avoid anysudden and injurious shock. In order to perform this operation, thebell-crank lever B at the unloading side is first manipulated to lowerthe shaft 12 and the pawl 21 is placed out of engagement with theratchet-wheel 20, manually or otherwise. By means of a lifting-jack J ofordinary construction, which is introduced under one of the ends of theaxle at the unloading side, the axle is then slightly jacked up orelevated, thus permitting the shaft 12 to rotate by the descent of thelog, which may be controlled by utilizing the near wheel as abrake-wheel. In like manner the transporting-wheel at the loading sidemay be utilized to rotate the shaft 12 for the purpose of elevating thelog by manual power, which may sometimes be found necessary in rough andslippery places.

The lifting-jack, log-chains, tongs, hooks, and the like may be carriedas part of the equipment in a tool-box connected with the truck; butthis has not been'shown in the drawings, inasmuch as it does not formpart of the truck structure.

While it is preferred to construct the improved truck with loading andunloading mechanism at each side thereof, as herein shown and described,this is not always essential, and the entire mechanism may, ifpreferred, be omitted at one side of the truck, thus materiallyreducing' the initial cost. IrVhen the loading and unloading mechanismis applied to one side of the truck only, one end of" the chain orhoisting element will be made fast to the cap-beam of the axle, as willbe readily understood.

I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not regard myself aslimited to any particular dimensions or proportions in the constructionof the improved truck, inasmuch as the dimensions and proportions may beprofitably varied, according to the circumstances under which and thelocalitiesin which the device is to be used. It is also to be understoodthat while as a rule only one of the transporting-wheels is used toeffect the preliminary lifting, and when unloading, for the purpose ofchecking the descent of the load both traction-wheels may be thus usedwhen desired and especially when a heavy load is handled.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. An archedaxle, supporting-wheels for the same, a slidable vertically-disposedshaft having a bevel-gear adapted to mesh with a bevel-gear upon theadjacent supportingwheel, spring means for forcing said shaft in anupward direction, means for forcing the shaft downwardly against thetension of the spring, a winding-drum carried and slidably engaged bythe shaft, a flexible hoisting element connected with said drum andguided to a point of attachment, and means for holding the winding-drumagainst reverse rotation.

2. An arched wheel-supported axle, hoisting mechanism connected withsaid axle and operated by the rotation of one of the wheels,

and automatically-operated trip mechanism for throwing the hoistingmechanism out of gear by contact with the object that is being hoistedwhen said object reaches a predetermined elevation.

3. In a logging-truck, an arched wheel-supported axle, hoistingmechanism connected with said axle and including a bevel-gear adapted tomesh with a bevel-gear upon one of the supporting-wheels and a shaftcarrying said bevel-gear, a winding-drum rotatable with and slidablyconnected with said shaft, a flexible hoisting element mounted upon saiddrum and suitably guided to a point of attachment, a bell-crank leverhaving a forked arm engaging a loose collar upon the shaft, a notchedspring-catch engaging the upwardlyextending arm of the bell-crank lever,and a trip lever having a wedge engaging said spring-catch and havingits opposite end extended into the path of the log to be hoisted.

4:. In a logging-truck, an arched wheel-supported axle, a pair ofwinding-drums mounted on upright shafts supported upon the side membersof the axle, a flexible hoisting element having its ends connected withsaid drums, guiding means for said hoisting element, and load-engagingmeans supported by the latter.

5. In a logging-truck, an arched Wheel-supported axle, a pair ofWinding-drums supported by said axle, a flexible hoisting element havingits ends connected with said drums, hingedly-supported guiding-sheavesfor the hoisting element, and load-engaging means supported by thelatter.

6. In a logging-truck, an arched Wheel-supported axle, shafts supportedupon the side members of said axle at approximately right angles to theaxes of the snpporting-Wheels, a pair of winding-drums upon said shafts,miter-gearing connecting said Winding-drums with the supporting-Wheels,a flexible hoisting element having its ends connected With the drums,guiding means for said hoisting element, and load-engaging meanssupported upon the latter.

7. In a logging-truck, an arched Wheel-supported axle, hoisting meansconnected with said axle and operable by a supporting-Wheel,

a Winding-drum connected with one of the side beams of the axle-arch,and a chain Wound upon said drum and adapted to be detachably connectedWith the opposite side beam of the axle-arch. I

8. In a logging-truck, a Wheel-supported arched axle, hoisting mechanismconnected With said axle and operable by one of the supporting-Wheels,spring means for throwing the hoisting mechanism out of gear, levermeans for throwing the hoisting mechanism into gear against the tensionof the spring, and trip mechanism operable by the load for releasingsaid lever means.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my oWn I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN STRANGE.

Witnesses:

A. B. GRIFFIN, W. M. CHILERs.

